JOY DIVISION - Closer LP Ist press TRANSLUCENT.Rounded corner inner. EX+/EX+.

	£		175
	$		232

 Chance to bid on an increasingly scarce 1st week,Ist press 1980 Factory Records original copy (Catalogue number Fact XXV) of Joy Division's 2nd classic long player Closer . This is a very rare opportunity to bid on a very clean copy.It's very nice and above average in every way and rarely comes up for auction in this condition given it's extremely fragile design.It isn't completely perfect,such a copy I'm sure just does not exist anymore(not even my keeper copy) but having gone through a detalied examination I do believe this is as good as it gets for this particular release. I must stress this IS the most sought after translucent vinyl version and not the bog standard black vinyl later press vinyl.

The vinyl I have played through from start to finish on my Acoustic Research deck with Goldring 1012 stylus and is a superb example which I shall grade as being in an Excellent+ condition,(it still sounds like vinyl though,so if you want a thin sounding,soulless artefact with absolute silence between tracks just buy the cd for £3)!!!! The very best copies of Closer usually have hairline marks caused by the slightly abrasive thinnish card matt inner and this copy is no exception,however it is a truly stunning copy of a UK original.

The original matt card outer sleeve I will grade as being in excellent condition.It is very clean for this particular sleeve with just some light feathering on the opening side.The edges and corners are very nice given it's 33 years of age.. The spine is perfectly readable of course. This would be a very good upgrade if you have an old tired copy.

The matt card inner sleeve with the all important rounded corners is just about perfect save for a tiny mark next to the word Isolation (believe me,I am being extremely picky here,have a look at the picture) so I shall grade as being in an excellent+ condition.

The labels are absolutley fine.The matrix has old blue? and the all important A1/B1 1st pressing proof etched into the run out.So there,I think that just about covers it,so all in all a great opportunity to bid on a beautiful copy of a fantastic and increasingly rare record.

Thanks for taking the time to view my auction.Please note that I have 100% positive feedback spread over 13 years so you can bid with complete confidence.Please take a moment to check out my other rare Joy Division vinyl I have for sale including a very rare 1st press copy of Unknown Pleasures complete with extremely scarce translucent vinyl.  Any questions are welcomed though NOT ones regarding a Buy It Now Price,I do NOT have one!!!!! P.S. All pictures taken are of the LP you are bidding on.

5 years ago I was recently invited to donate rare Joy Division artefacts to the Macclesfield Museum(please see below)

Joy Division - Closer.If Unknown Pleasures was Joy Division at their most obsessively, carefully focused, ten songs yet of a piece, Closer was the sprawl, the chaotic explosion that went every direction at once. Who knows what the next path would have been had Ian Curtis not chosen his end? But steer away from the rereading of his every lyric after that date; treat Closer as what everyone else thought it was at first - simply the next album - and Joy Division's power just seems to have grown. Martin Hannett was still producing, but seems to have taken as many chances as the band itself throughout - differing mixes, differing atmospheres, new twists and turns define the entirety of Closer, songs suddenly returned in chopped-up, crumpled form, ending on hiss and random notes.  Opener "Atrocity Exhibition" was arguably the most fractured thing the band had yet recorded, Bernard Sumner's teeth-grinding guitar and Stephen Morris' Can-on-speed drumming making for one heck of a strange start. Keyboards also took the fore more so than ever - the drowned pianos underpinning Curtis' shadowy moan on "The Eternal," the squirrelly lead synth on the energetic but scared-out-of-its-wits "Isolation," and above all else "Decades," the album ender of album enders. A long slow crawl down and out, Curtis' portrait of lost youth inevitably applied to himself soon after, its sepulchral string-synths are practically a requiem. Songs like "Heart and Soul" and especially the jaw-dropping, wrenching "Twenty Four Hours," as perfect a demonstration of the tension/release or soft/loud approach as will ever be heard, simply intensify the experience. Joy Division were at the height of their powers on Closer, equaling and arguably bettering the astonishing Unknown Pleasures, that's how accomplished the four members were. Rock, however defined, rarely seems and sounds so important, so vital, and so impossible to resist or ignore as here.

Track Listing: -

1 Atrocity Exhibition Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 6:05 2 Isolation Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 2:53 3 Passover Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 4:46 4 Colony Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 3:55 5 A Means to an End Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 4:07 6 Heart and Soul Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 5:51 7 Twenty Four Hours Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 4:26 8 The Eternal Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 6:07 9 Decades Curtis, Hook, Morris, Sumner 6:09

RECORD COLLECTOR GRADING SYSTEM

MINT :The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed be Mint.

EXCELLENT :The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

VERY GOOD :The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

I may use a + or a - to emphasise a grading which may be inbetween a grade. I will never use a mint grading for a 2nd hand/used record for instance. Mint- will be the very highest grade.

PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO NOT,AND WILL NOT,RETRACT A BID FOR ANYONE REGARDLESS OF THE EXCUSE.THIS IS SOMETHING YOU WILL HAVE TO DO YOURSELF USING THE BID RETRACTION FORM AND EARN A BID RETRACTION STRIKE AGAINST YOURSELF.Paypal ONLY accepted for buyers outside the United Kingdom(UK).No exceptions on this,sorry.